Thursday, October 28, 2010

Wow.... Freedom in Christ INDEED!!!

So I purchased several Arab magazines, mainly bc I'm curious About their fashion. But I also bought an English-Arab magazine and aside from giggling at the stickers they pasted on each page to cover up Kim Kardashian's cleavage, I was getting insight into this mysterious Muslim culture when I came across an article entitled

'Forced to Divorce': "Imagine if your father & brothers had the power to not only choose your husband, but take him away? A new phenomenon in forced divorces in Saudi Arabia is driving women to fight back."

Let me quote a small paragraph:

From VIVA MAGAZINE October 2010 edition

"It is a general misconception that a Saudi woman is under the guardianship of her father until the moment she is married, whereupon she becomes her husband's property. According to Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Middle East consultant of Equality Now, a human rights organization, this is far from true. "Even after marriage, the father & the brother have closer control of the woman, " she says. "It's father, brother, then husband." So the woman is under the control of her closest blood relative for life, allowing themTo do with her as they please..."

Wow! For us Westeners this seems SO archaic, so barbaric, so unreal...but it's so true. The differences between the Eastern & Western culture- plus throw in the tribal cultures of islanders, Aboriginals- and the definition for what is RIGHT & WRONG & NORMAL gets blurred. I'm not suggesting I'm losing my moral gauge, but for one who has no truth, no sense of intrinsic value or a sturdy world view.... Oh boy will they be drowning in the sea of....life.... as they search for 'truth.' Makes me think of Pontius Pilate when he asked Jesus "what IS truth?" For those well-versed Christians, we remember what Jesus told him, "everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." If you would like to read the scene, go here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18&version=NIV

But anyways, back to my point about the forced divorces.... Islam has many similarities to Judeo-Christianity.... In truth, I consider it a form of a Christian Cult, no different than The LDS church. Both believe in ONE God- LDS believe in the God of The Jews, as do Christians, as do Muslims. Both LDS & Islam have use of prophets that come centuries after Jesus & Their own twisted version of the Bible. Now, how is it that I'm so certain that Christianity is the truth will be saved for another blog entry bc I already know this will be a lengthy entry as it is. I would also like to add that I in no way intend to insult both LDS or Islam, I'm just stating my opinion on the differences of a culture and the Eastern culture happens to be run by their religion, so to separate religion from culture is impossible & ignorant.

The Torah & Old Testament (Bible) both declare that the same God "we all" SEEM to share, HATES divorce. Despite culture, God created marriage as a sacred institution. The question nobody seems to be asking, is WHY did he make it sacred- as opposed to asking WHAT is so sacred about the covenant. We want to get to the heart & God's intended purpose of a marriage covenant. And again, God doesn't consider what is polite or appropriate- he simply states he hates divorce.

Jesus reinforced this and EXPLAINED why Divorce was even ALLOWED by God. If you didn't already know, Moses went to God because the people wereWanting to end their marriages. So God gave Moses the permission to grant decrees of divorce- then people started getting divorced for stupid things, like if their wife made one bad meal- bam, divorce.

3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, "Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?" 4 Jesus answered, "Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, 'he made them male and female.'[a] 5 And God said, 'So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.'[b] 6 So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them."

7 The Pharisees asked, "Why then did Moses give a command for a man to divorce his wife by giving her divorce papers?"8 Jesus answered, "Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you refused to accept God's teaching, but divorce was not allowed in the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery.[c] The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if his wife has sexual relations with another man."10 The followers said to him, "If that is the only reason a man can divorce his wife, it is better not to marry." 11 Jesus answered, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but God has made some able to accept it. 12 There are different reasons why some men cannot marry. Some men were born without the ability to become fathers. Others were made that way later in life by other people. And some men have given up marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage" (Matthew 19:4-12,NCV).

That pretty much says it all!

How can a DEEPLY religious & ZEALOUS people, who believe in the God of Abraham, who also consider Moses & Jesus as major prophets- get it wrong? DISCLAIMER: I'm fully aware that not all Muslims adhere to the exact same teachings as there are conflicts between Sunni & Shi'ite, furthermore, there is a possibility that not all Muslim countries enforce or practice forced divorces.

But do you kinda get where I'mComing from? God, Moses, Jesus.... Where did the message go wrong? "PROPHETS" who came later.... 6 centuries PLUS, later, that decided to create their own truths by hijacking what was already written. Mohammed's first wife was a Christian & I believe his mother was too, so it is common to see Biblical passages in the Koran.

My friends, what came first- the Koran or Bible? The Bible did! The Torah, the famous Dead Sea Scrolls that confirm the Torah/ Old Testament's accuracy & thousands of Greek manuscripts that when put together, reproduce nearly the entire New Testament. What else would a logical person favor in this case? Even the Koran instructs it's followers to seek guidance from "the people of the Book." what book do you think it's referring to??? The Bible.

My precious God, who is the definition of LOVE, recognized a need for companionship, relationship, created sex- intends these characteristics, plus a lot more not mentioned- to create marriage. Marriage is a covenant, a binding agreement. God had many covenants with his people & with the fulfilling/keeping of each covenant came blessings that God PROMISED as well as the CURSES that came with breaking a covenant, as he gave his conditions when forming these covenants.

Those who believe that breaking a marriage is ok, is WRONG. and to see a culture so deeply 'committed' to 'God,' they completely miss God's heart about COVENANTS.

Jesus set women free, gave them equality whereas the Eastern culture STILL does not treat or view them as equals.

Much has been said today... Bottom line, the more I learn about the Eastern Islamic culture, the more thankful I am for my Jesus. His compassion, grace, patience, salvation, forgiveness, restoration.... are that much sweeter- even when I am away from my "Christian bubble."